APPLETON - Alex Seidl’s 2018 ride at Wisconsin International Raceway looks vastly different than his hot rod a year ago.

In 2017, the Appleton driver wheeled a ’55 Chevy in super stock action on WIR’s quarter-mile oval. This year, Seidl will be strapping on his big boy pants and going door-to-door as a rookie in the super late model division for “Thursday Night Thunder” action.

The race car Seidl will pilot is owned by Appleton’s Jim Kemkes. While his familiar number 07 will still be splashed on the doors, the equipment he’ll be competing in will be a big cut above what he’s used to running. The high speed super late model is a 2002 Lefthander chassis that carries with it a stellar pedigree.

“This was Cory (Kemkes’) late model championship car at WIR from 2014,” Seidl said. “That’s the car he set the track record with.”

Seidl’s ’55 Chevy is old and has been raced many seasons.

“That’s the car I raced for Terry Van Roy in 2015 and 2016,” Seidl said. “I bought it from Terry and raced it last year. It’s so old, the oldest feature winning sticker on it is from 1998. I was born in ’99. I remember Terry telling me the car was built in 1996.”

So how did Seidl get hooked up as a “hired gun” for car owner Kemkes?

“One day out of the blue last year Jim kept asking me if I wanted to race that car as a late model in the division,” Seidl said. “For a while, we couldn’t afford to come up with the funds to race it. But Jim kept bugging us.”

Seidl and his teammates decided to go “all in” and they partnered with Kemkes.

“We plan on running it every Thursday night to compete for rookie of the year honors in the division,” Seidl said. “It’s going to be tough, too. We’re just hoping to make some features because there are going to be a lot of super late models out weekly on Thursday nights, by the sound of things.”

While Kemkes is providing the car, Seidl and his team is funding the tires and fuel for their Thursday night fun.

“We’ve provided a motor, too, as B & B race engines took pretty good care of us there. It’s still Jim’s car and we’re racing it,” he said.

The team began rebuilding the car around Christmas. Seidl was able to fire some “live rounds” last Saturday for the TUNDRA super late model race before the rains came.

“We stayed pretty consistent after I didn’t qualify well, but I’ve never timed well even in my super stock days,” Seidl said. “I felt something strange with the car going into turn one and we wound up breaking a right rear shock that ended our day. We didn’t come back for Sunday, but we’re pretty positive with how things have gone so far. Cory (Kemkes) and his whole crew have been a tremendous help in getting us up and running.”

Like Seidl, Kemkes will still run the same number 07 on his blue, white and pink ride. Seidl’s number 07 is white with black trim. In a way they are considered teammates.

Before venturing out onto the half-mile, the super late model rookie had heard all the stories about WIR’s D-shaped half-mile being a bit bumpy.

“Those stories are true,” said Seidl. “The track has a lot of character, no doubt. Not one of those corners is the same and couple that was an entirely different car. It’s a whole different world compared to the super stock racing on a flat quarter-mile, that’s for sure.”

The racing bug bit Seidl when he was 11 years old.

“Dad took me to (WIR) once and that was all it took for me,” Seidl said.

The following year, his dad Jeff bought a 4-cylinder for Alex and they went racing.

“I was 14 when I raced a full season in the Sizzlin’ 4 class in 2013,” he said.

Seidl bought another 4-cylinder car and began to cut his teeth on the local dirt tracks at Oshkosh Speedzone, 141 Speedway in Francis Creek and Outagamie Speedway in Seymour before jumping to the super stocks.

Among Seidl’s goals are to try to win the rookie of the year battle.

“It’s a tough track to get around and we just want to bring the car home in one piece every night,” Seidl said.

His entire team that supported him in his super stock effort is back this season to assist with the late model. The team members include his dad, brothers Matt and Ryan Seidl, his cousin Mike Morack, Aaron Van Stippen and Nick Furman.

“Cory Kemkes’ entire team is lending a hand with this, too,” he said.

The team of sponsors is also back, and the major backers include Millenium Construction and Maloney Landscaping and Paving both of Appleton, along with Watters Plumbing of Menasha.

As for that old ’55 Chevy super stock?

“We’ve still got that. In fact, we just got it back into the shop recently,” Seidl said. “We plan on making a few trips up to Norway (Mich.) Speedway with it to race again. We really love racing up there with those guys and they treat us really well up there.”

WIR pit party: Although the “Thursday Night Thunder” opener is one week away, WIR will host a preseason race party Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m. in the pit area inside the half-mile oval. Admission is free and fans are encouraged to bring their kids, as many teams will have their race cars available for kids to take pictures. Food and drinks will be served in the pit concessions.

Tundra leftovers: Rain last Saturday forced TUNDRA super late model series officials to postpone their event to Sunday afternoon at WIR. Allenton’s Dennis Prunty won the super late model feature. Top WIR Thursday night finishers included Edgerton’s Casey Johnson (fourth), Montello’s Bobby Kendall (sixth) and Green Bay’s Chad Butz (10th). Neenah’s Braison Bennett won the late model portion of the show. Hilbert’s Mike Meyerhofer smashed the late model division’s track record with a blistering lap of 20.054. Meyerhofer’s lap shattered the old record set by Cory Kemkes in 2014, which was 20.078.

Long haulers: Two drivers hustled back six hours from a race that was rained out in Iowa and wound up winning their respective feature races last Saturday at Shawano Speedway. Clintonville’s Lucas Lamberies won his second straight IMCA northern sportmod feature, while Seymour’s Mike Mullen pulled off the same feat in the IMCA modifieds. The Dirt Kings late model tour will kick off its 2018 season May 19 at Shawano Speedway. A field of close to 30 late models is expected. There is no increase in admission for this special event. Racing gets underway at 6 p.m.

Try, try again: After being rained out for two straight weeks, Outagamie Speedway in Seymour will try for the third straight week to get its season-opening race in Sunday at the Outagamie County Fairgrounds. IMCA modifieds, northern sportmods, stock cars, street stocks and 4-cylinders compete weekly at the third-mile, clay oval.

Stewart at Plymouth: Former NASCAR Cup champion Tony Stewart will be racing with his outlaw sprint car at Plymouth Dirt Track on Saturday night. Stewart will battle with more than 40 other winged sprint car drivers in the event co-sanctioned by the IRA sprint cars and All Star Circuit of Champions. Hot laps are set to commence at 5:30 p.m. Stewart will also compete Sunday night at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie.